New documentary: "Willful Infringement"

There's a documentary out that you will not find at Blockbuster called Willful Infringement. It's about the struggles endured by several people who have been sued for infringement, the concept of originality in creative work, and the current state of the copyright law in the US.

Willful Infringement features commentators and copyright suit parties such as Public Enemy, U2, Lessig, Disney, The Wind Done Gone author Alice Randall, Jed Horovitz, Mazen Mawlawi, etc. Apparently the video was featured last year on Illegal Art, but I haven't heard of it until now. It appears to be an anti-corporate rant that, based on the preview, doesn't get the law correct all the time. On the other hand, the general message of the film is one that Copyfighters want the public to hear -- that copyright is being used to stifle creativity by propertizing what should be their public domain material.

Check out the videos and previews at the bottom of the Willful Infringement homepage. Here is a review of the film at Mindjack.com. The film homepage has little laudatory blurbs by Lawrence Lessig and Cory Doctorow, so maybe that counts for something.

You can buy the film if you're willing to drop $55. I'm not, but maybe we could have a viewing by local NYC blawggers and split the cost. Write me if you're interested: ccohen (at) gmail dot com.